Survey Analysis: AI

Discover findings from NACD’s 2025 Private Company Board Practices and Oversight Survey related to the board’s oversight of artificial intelligence (AI). The data was gathered from directors and others who serve the boards of privately held companies. Access the full survey here.

Key Insights

Private company board engagement with AI has advanced significantly, with 62 percent of respondents stating they set aside agenda time for discussion of AI in 2025 compared to only 23 percent stating AI featured regularly in board conversations in 2023. Talent is a key focus of AI discussions, with 62 percent of private company respondents asking management how AI could impact their future workforce needs (compared to 47 percent in 2023).

AI Oversight Activities Performed by Boards
(Respondents could select all that apply.) 

Why It Matters

Competing for AI talent in the current environment can be difficult, and the costs associated with highly credentialed, specialized AI talent can be incredibly high, with much of this talent concentrated in the technology sector. Employees are also tepidly navigating this new environment, with 52 percent worried about the future impact of AI use in the workplace and only 6 percent saying they believe AI will lead to more job opportunities.

Private company boards are focusing on the impacts AI will bring to the workforce and potential disruptions. For example, NACD Private Company Board Practices and Oversight found that “insufficient talent to lead AI adoption” and “change management” were ranked as the second and third biggest barriers to AI adoption following the top barrier --general uncertainty regarding the potential return on AI investments.

Top Barriers to AI Implementation (Top 5)

Q: Which of the following do you believe is the biggest barrier to AI adoption/implementation/deployment at your organization?
2025 NACD Private Company Board Practices and Oversight Survey, n=81

As more companies deploy AI, issues of talent and poor work processes remain an incredibly large barrier to the success of these projects. While AI talent wars are dominating business publication headlines, focusing on enterprise-wide change management and workforce transformation are likely to be central part of board’s AI oversight focus for the foreseeable future as boards seek returns from their companies’ AI investments

What Boards Should Do

Incorporating AI oversight responsibilities into committee charters can help align committee-level discussions to AI issues. Survey data reveals that while more than 38 percent of respondents stated they set aside agenda time in committee meetings to discuss AI, less than half this number, only 18 percent, state their boards have incorporated AI oversight into board committee charters.

Doing so can help eliminate blind spots on the board and enable adequate oversight. For example, responsibility for oversight of AI’s impact on the organization’s workforce and talent might be assigned to the compensation and human capital committee. This same practice can be applied to other components of AI governance as well, ensuring boards fulfill their fiduciary obligations while also maintaining oversight on critical AI challenges, like data management, AI tool evaluation and procurement, and AI cybersecurity risks.

Further, for boards of companies more deeply engaged with or reliant on AI and other technologies, the creation of a dedicated technology committee can provide additional oversight if necessary. While this is still an emerging committee structure, more than 10 percent of private company respondents indicated they established a technology committee to oversee AI.

Explore more related data below, or return to the 2025 NACD Private Company Board Practices and Oversight Survey.